Salad for One to Save the Earth

When you’re too full to finish a meal, what do you do? If you’re like most of us, the scraps on your plate often end up in the trash can. What seems routine and normal is actually part of a gianormous problem: food waste. Estimates indicate Americans waste between 10 to 15 % of the food they buy and more than half a pound of food per person is sent to the landfill everyday. In Honor of Earth Day, April 22, the Recipe Redux is asking members to show how they reduce food waste. Here’s the challenge: Whatever you would normally toss, use it up. Share tips for reducing food waste in meal planning, prep or using up scraps.

I consider myself reasonably thrifty when it comes to cutting food waste by shopping with a grocery list, purchasing what I know I’ll be able to use up in a timely manner, and trying to use the entire vegetable (even the part that usually gets tossed) as in my Cast Iron Skillet Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter. But here’s where I fail; sending scraps of food left on my plate down the garbage disposal. Geez. Today I’m sharing

I’ve posted on mindfulness before, here and here. It’s my preferred way to self regulate intake, and I encourage my clients to learn this skill as a strategy to reduce weight or maintain a healthy weight. I my humble opinion, the mindfull approach is also a way to fight food waste. Wastefulness is a subconscious act; being mindful will help you think before throwing food away.

On Easter Sunday, and I had a little more honey ham on my plate than I was able to finish. Instead of putting it down the garbage disposal, I wrapped it in piece of foil and and stored it in the meat drawer of my refrigerator. The next day I used it in a salad made with the few ingredients I had on hand: Romaine lettuce, radishes, and dried cranberries. A homemade honey mustard vinaigrette set off the taste of the ham in this simple salad. The recipe is below if you would like to recreate it , but more importantly, when you’re too full to finish a meal, don’t waste it! Put it in a resusable container in the refrigerator, and eat it the next day. Even amounts that aren’t enough for a meal can make terrific snacks.